Hand mirror and the like



March 3, 1942-* A. F. REILLY 2,275,201

v HAND MIRROR AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 8, 1941 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 i UNITED STATES PATENT GFPICE HAND MIRROR AND THE `LIKE Alfred F.y Reilly, North Attleboro, Mass.

Application October 8, 1941, Serial No. 414,211 (o1. :ss-1oz) l 5 Claims.

The invention relates to hand mirrors and particularly to the production and employment and mounting of a hand mirror frame made of a more or less valuable metal, especially such as silver or the like. Fine or sterling silver is a soft metal and in order to produce a frame all of silver having a suillcient rigidity a considerable quantity of silver must be employed and the frame or casing must be either solid or made of a thick shell of silver. Such an arrangement, however, is expensive. It is a purpose of the present invention to provide an arrangement by which a sumciently strong, sturdy and useful frame may be made with a very thin sheet of silver. To this end sufficient reinforcement at proper points is employed to hold the frame in proper form to keep it from deforming and to reinforce the metal so that the surface is not readily deformed by casual blows or contact with rough or heavyv articles. not unusual to make a number of different patterns having different surface chasing or different colors or ornamentations of enamel orthe like applied to at least a portion of the back so as to satisfy the various tastes of individuals who are to purchase or use the article. Since it cannot be known in advance how many of each pattern may be demanded a simplified method rof providing an indefinite number of devicesfof each pattern in an economical manner Amay be desirable. The present -invention contemplates, therefore, providing a more or less standard frame, or a plurality thereof, so constructed that the mirror may be inserted and exposed to view from one side while on the back or other side'= there may be inserted a separate ornamental back member. The frame itself may be made in considerable quantity and the separable back members may be made in a number of different patterns so that when orders are received the desired back may be assembled with the frame and the demanded article may be promptly and economically furnished. By' making the back insert and the frame separate there is, of course,

a considerable economy in both manufacture and In such devices it is A frame member more or less U-shaped at its edge may be formed with inwardly turned flanges at both front and back. The frame member in general outline may be oval or circular or any shape desired for the exposure of the mirror. The frame may be provided with a hollow handle. This entire unit may be made of thin sheet silver. Engaging the inturned flange at the back may be inserted a back plate member which may be of thin sheet silver and may at its periphery be provided with a flange to engage the flange in the back of the frame. When this has been put in place there may be cemented to it a reinforcing member of cardboard or the like. Preferably the reinforcing member will'be substantially the same size as the back member and may thus reinforce its entire surface. The edges of the reinforcing member may be in direct contact with the inturned flanges of the back insert and so tend to hold them in position to surely engage the flanges at the back of the frame. In order to keep the entire structure rigid a small stick, preferably of wood, may be inserted all or part way into the hollow stem and the hollow stem may then have put into it a suitable cement which when set may form a reinforcement for the hollow handle strengthening it and tending to 'hold it in shape. The cement at the same time may hold in place the stick which will be partly embedded in the cement. From the handle the stick may extend across the frame and its end may engage the frame opposite the handle thus tending to aid in holding the frame in extended position and also reinforce it against bending. On each side of the stick may be placed a reinforcing member of thin plywood or the like, and each reinforcing member may extend from the stick out ward toward the side and into the frame member itself. Each reinforcing member thus may overlie and be in contact with about half of the flange on the back insert plate. The reinforcing strips on each side of the stick may tend to press against the flange and hold it in contact with the flange on the back of the frame and thus hold the insert plate in proper position, Within the front of the frame overlying the stick and the two side reinforcing members may be placed a reinforcing member of cardboard or stiff corrugated cardboard or the like. This may be -of the same shape and about as large as the opening in the frame. The mirror then, when put in place `and held in place by a bezel, will in effect press upon the last mentioned insert member and tend to press the various parts more or less tightly together and so hold the back insert firmly and neatly in place so as to keep its flange in close supporting contact With the flange on the back of the frame.

The arrangement lends itself to the production of an economical, sturdy device which may supply the long existing want for a satisfactory hand mirror made of silver but at the same time cheap enough to sell for a moderate retail price and simple and variable enough to make its manufacture to meet Various demands economical.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a front plan view of a hand mirror, 'portions being broken away to show the construction and reinforcement. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section on an enlarged scale on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

There may be provided a frame I which as shown in Fig. 2 has an inwardly turned fiange I I about the opening in its face in which a mirror I2 may be held in any suitable way as by means of a bezel I3. At its opposite or back side the frame has a similar opening surrounded by an inwardly turned flange IA. In the back opening is a plate I5 which is structurally separate from the frame I and which may be ornamented in any suitable manner. The plate i is provided with a more or less U-shaped flange I5 throughout its periphery which is adapted to hook over and engage the flange Id. plate I5 is held in place closing the rear opening in the frame Ii). The frame I il and the plate I5 may both be made of fine silver of the grade necessary to carry the mark sterling Since this metal is expensive it is desirable that the parts be made as thin as possible to answer their purpose. In order to hold the thin plate I5 in shape there may be inserted in it a sheet Il of cardboard or the like. This sheet Il will preferably be cut just small enough to stay inside the flange IS. It may be cemented to the plate I5 and when the cement hardens it will form a more or less sturdy, rigid back for the plate I5 and not only hold it in proper form but tend to prevent it from being deformed or dented by casual or accidental contact with hard articles. It will be noted that the edge of the reinforcing member Il engages the upwardly extending rim of the U-shaped ange i6 and so tends to press it outward and into contact with the flange I4 inthe frame member Ill. Thus the joint on the back of the mirror may be strong and neat and there may thus be prevented any tendency to gap. The frame It may be reinforced and strengthened by a stick or rod I3 which preferably may be made of Wood. The stick I8 may be inserted a suitable or short distance into the handle I9 of the frame and will be long enough to extend between the flanges of the frame I0 opposite the handle. The hollow handle i9 may be more or less lled with a cement or the like 2li which will hold the stick I8 in proper reinforcing position and also when solidified may act as an internal reinforcement for the handle i9 which itself, like the rest of the frame, will preferably be made of very thin', soft silver.

To reinforce and hold in place the parts of the device there may then be provided at each side of the stick I8 an insert plate 2|, made of thin plywood or especially stiff cardboard or the like. Each insert plate 2I may be in area nearly half the opening in the frame IG so that when placed at the side of the stick I8 it will extend part way into the sides of the frame II] and at its edge overlie and rest upon the flange I6, thus In this manner the l possible to make a sturdy, rigid hand mirror of tending to hold it securely in contact with the flange I4 of the frame I0. Overlying the stick I8 and the inserts 2| may be a cardboard plate 22 which preferably will be substantially as large as the opening in the frame I0 and will have a more or less even, uniform bearing on the stick I and the plywood inserts 2 I. When the mirror I2 is put in place there may be some compression of the cardboard and the pressure will tend to hold together the flanges I4 and I6 and so hold the insert I5 firmly in place and at the same time place pressure against the reinforcement I1 so as to enhance its eect of reinforcing and holding the insert plate I5.

It will be seen that by this arrangement it is expensive metal since it may be necessary to employ only a very thin sheet or surface layer of the ornamental metal. Since the insert I5 is separate from the frame itself it is possible to manufacture and keep on hand a considerable number of main frame members I0 and keep on hand a variegated supply of ornamented back inserts I5 so as to promptly ll orders for mirrors of differing types. It may also be possible with a supply of frame members I0 on hand to promptly and economically manufacture a suiicient number of plates I0 having the required and desired ornamental form to promptly ll an order. The wastage in such devices of expensive metal may be considerably reduced and the inventory of parts of precious metal may be considerably reduced by making the frame and the ornamental inserts in separate parts as described. All of this may make it possible to continue to carry on business under what might be otherwise adverse economic and financial circumstances.

It will be understood, of course, that the actual form of the mirror and frame and other details of the invention may be varied within wide limits without departing from the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. In a hand mirror or the like, a thin metallic frame, a hollow handle on the frame, in-

wardly turned flanges at both front and back of the frame, a thin metal insert sheet, an upwardly turned flange about the periphery of the insert sheet engaging the flange at the back of the frame and holding the plate in the frame, a reinforcing sheet of cardboard cemented on the sheet within vthe ange, a stick extending from within the handle into the frame at a point opposite the handle, a reinforcing element in the handle holding the stick in place, a pair of reinforcing plywood inserts one on each side of the stick and overlying the cardboard sheet and the ange on the metal insert sheet and pressing the flange into engagement with the nange in the frame, a heavy cardboard member overlying the stick and plywood inserts and holding them in place, a mirror in the front of the frame press ing on the last mentioned cardboard member and holding all parts in more or less rigid reinforcing contact.

2'. In a hand mirror or the like, a thin metallic frame, a hollow handle on the frame, in wardly turned flanges at both front and back of the frame, a thin metal insert sheet, an upwardly turned ange about the periphery of the insert sheet engaging the fiange at the back of the frame and holding the plate in the frame, a stick extending from within the handle into the frame at a point opposite the handle, a reinforcing element in the handle holding the stick in place, a pair of reinforcing plywood inserts one on each side of the stick and overlying'the cardboard sheet and the flange on the metal insert sheet and pressing the flangeinto engagement with the flange in the frame, a heavy cardboard member overlying the stick and plywood inserts and holding them in place, a mirror in the front of the frame pressing on the last mentioned cardboard member and holding all parts in more or less rigid reinforcing Contact.

3. In a hand mirror or the like, a thin metallic frame, inwardly turned flanges at both front and back of the frame, a thin metal insert sheet. an upwardly turned flange about the periphery of the insert sheet engaging the flange at the back of the frame and holding the sheet in the ror in the front vof the' frame pressing on the last mentioned cardboard member and holding al1 parts in morev or less rigid reinforcing contact. f

4. In a hand mirror or the like, a thin metallic frame, inwardly turned anges at both front and back of the frame, a thin metal insert sheet, an upwardly and backwardly turned flange about the periphery of the insert 'sheet engaging the flangeat the back of the frame and holding. the

sheet' in the frame, and means holding the anges together to hold the insert infplace.

5L, In a hand mirrorr or the like, a thin metallicv frame, inwardly turned flanges at the back of the frame, a thin metal insert sheet, a U- shaped` flange about the periphery of the insert sheet engaging the flange in the frame and holding the sheet in the frame, a stiff reinforcing sheet cemented to the insert sheet within they flange, a mirror in the front'of the frame, and means between the mirror andthe insert sheet holding the anges together to hold the insert in place.

' ALFRED F. REILLY. 

